Keown's Maddux feature in The Mag

[silentbob]

My apologies if this has been discussed:

Anyone read Tim Keown's feature on Greg Maddux in the April 21 edition of The Magazine (Darren McFadden cover)? IN short, it's very well reported and written, but the following passage bothered me:

"Maddux has spent his adult life in the eternal childhood of the big league clubhouse. There's no other place on earth quite like it. One morning this spring in Peoria, Ariz., he sat at his corner locker with a plate of bacon and eggs on his lap, talking about pitching. He was running some sort of low-stakes golf pool out of the corner of his eye, passing out papers and collecting money without turning his head. At one point, in midsentence and without warning, he winced like a man about to pass a stone, lifted his left cheek off the chair and let loose. "Whoa, wow, sorry about that," he said, then continued with the eggs and the discussion and the golf pool. So add that to the Maddux scouting report: bats right, throws right, farts left."

Now let me just say: I normally consider nothing out of bounds, but I think this is in poor taste. Yes, a farting perfectionist such as Maddux creates a bizarre image. But seriously ... farting? Are there people out there who don't think men do such things in this exact described manner? If I'm not mistaken, another ESPN writer (maybe it was Keown) pissed off the Giles brothers last year for including their childish clubhouse behavior. In the end, this is an access issue. Writers have hardly any these days so they pretty much are left with the clubhouse, therefore they use whatever they can get. But I think you have to show some restraint.

Or am I overreacting?

 

[aschaefe]

Yes.

 

[spnited]

The Mag is written for kids who think all references to farting are funny.

 

[JackReacher]

I found nothing wrong with that passage. I lift my right cheek, though.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I found nothing wrong with that passage. I lift my right cheek, though.

We may need a poll.

 

[JackReacher]

I found nothing wrong with that passage. I lift my right cheek, though.

We may need a poll.

I don't disagree.

 

[BYH]

It's fine to me. It points out, pretty vividly, that Maddux has indeed spent his adult life in the romper room.

I don't think anyone would argue otherwise.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

I didn't see the problem ... and thank goodness I wasn't there to smell the problem.

Tim Keown's style is engaging enough for that excerpt to add a little color to the story. Additionally, it helps let readers know that while Greg Maddux takes baseball and wearing the uniform very seriously, he's not without humor and perspective. In summary, what BYH said.

Let it stay. Much ado about nothing.

 

[playthrough]

The "scouting report" line was a little too obvious for me. The reference was OK in the flow of the story, but I'd let the reader catch it and move on.

It was a good story though; Maddux's intuitions for the game are amazing.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Maybe Tim Keown should write from his mother's basement in his pajamas rather than do something with, you know, that access.

And you're more upset with him presenting Maddux as a farter than as a bookie.

 

[silentbob]

Dont misunderstand, Keown's one of the best.

But I think if you're going to construct a scene, you should probably show the reader something more than a fart. I'm still not sure what that says about Greg Maddux, because if you've ever been in any locker room or clubhouse, on any level, this happens every 5 minutes. .. If the story was about what a jokester Maddux is, it works. If the story is about what a control freak Maddux is, it works. If the story is about what a leader Maddux is, it works. But when the story's about Greg Maddux, the pitching genius who tries to play stupid, I'm not sure what a scene that shows Maddux farting accomplishes. And I'm not sure it's fair to Maddux. I'd hate to go into an interview and have a player or coach think: "If I fart, cough, belch, sneeze or heaven forbid, have a booger hanging from my nose, it might turn up in the newspaper." ... Perhaps it's just me, but when I read that passage, I felt Keown included that just so he could use his witty line .... "bats right, throws right, farts left."
Regardless, if you havent read it, do so. It's great.

 

[Tom Petty]

no. this hasn't been discussed. thanks.

 

[CentralIllinoisan]

This phrase bothered me more: "He was running some sort of low-stakes golf pool out of the corner of his eye ..."

How does he fit -- into one eye, no less -- the paperwork for an entire pool? Amazing.

 

[buckweaver]

But when the story's about Greg Maddux, the pitching genius who tries to play stupid, I'm not sure what a scene that shows Maddux farting accomplishes. And I'm not sure it's fair to Maddux.

Having paid particularly close attention to Maddux for years -- and knowing his sense of humor and the fact that he's easily the dorkiest player in the majors -- hell, I think he'd find the farting anecdote to be the best part of the story.

The "eyes-closed" story, to me, was the stuff of legend. I wish everyone reading that could understand just how hard that is to do. Wow.

 

[Joe Williams]

I would have thought, from the way Maddux is portrayed by a lot of baseball media folks -- pitching genius, low-key, savvy veteran -- and probably a little from his subdued appearance and general absence from controversy through the years, that he would be the one reacting to some teammate's fart or golf pool.

So that he is the actor, rather than the reactor, in those clubhouse activities tells me something I didn't know about him.

I was waiting for some clubhouse clown to tip the bacon and eggs onto Maddux's crotch or something, I dunno. Guess he's just one o' the boys. Or trying to be one o' the boys.

 

[goalmouth]

Based on all the crap that passes (no bun intended) for journalism today, I'd say there is a vast market for a pub that specializes in the off-color behavior of athletes in the lockerroom.

The days of the clubhouse-as-Kremlin are numbered as the proliferation of mobile communication technology turns everyday life into one seamless reality show. You'll have MLB players holding farting contests on the air, mark my words.